|
Review: Blackberry Bold...Or Not?
|
28-Nov-2008
|
|
Blackberry recently unveiled its' latest incarnation of...basically the same device they've been selling for 10 years; the Bold. As with any upgraded version (yeah, I said it, it's nothing really new), of course there are improved features. There aren't any new features, but, why fix it if...the vast majority of people don't realize it's broken?
The Good:
Yeah...there is absolutely nothing good about this device. Shilling the same shtick for a decade is not a good thing. It's about the worst thing you can do, and also the reason why companies like Sprint, Verizon and AT&T are heavily advertising the significantly superior HTC models and, dare I say, even iPhone, as opposed to focusing on Blackberry's – which do in fact dominate the market.
The Bad:
Screen. The screen is still not touch screen, and you are still married to the little touch ball/scroll wheel. Companies like HTC offer: 1 – stylus; 2 – scroll wheel; and 3 – navigation pad. Three, repeat, THREE options so that no matter how you prefer to function, you have the freedom of options. Heaven forbid Blackberry jump on the already several year old bandwagon and offer touchscreens (although, the next generation [yeah right...] Blackberry Storm will supposedly come with a touchscreen). Also, though certainly not the smallest screen on mobile devices, they have as of yet to increase the size – again, significantly inferior to both HTC and Apple.
Battery. Yeah, still no improvement. In all fairness, nobody's doing brilliant work here (although Asus is trying...)
Memory. With a gig of on board memory, you wouldn't think I would put that in this category. The thing about a gig of memory is, if you have nothing to use it for, it's a waste. And with the standard microSD expansion port, heavily loading up on on board memory is simply inflating the cost at this point. It gets a bad review because they're focusing in the wrong areas (I think the design team Microsoft should have fired for making Vista, definitely was picked up by RIM).
Camera. A 2 mega pixel camera really doesn't cut it anymore, not even on a mobile phone. Both the HTC Fuse and Samsung Mirage/Omnia have significantly more powerful cameras, and are both scheduled to be released about the same time as the Bold.
Operating System. Still the same non-Windows OS. And there has already been a European recall due to 'undisclosed software issues'. Perhaps people still can't open their E-mail attachments???
The Verdict
My verdict is in, and the Bold is out. I'm certain many of you Microsoft Word Bandits will flock to it, making it the best selling phone of the 2008-09 Christmas Season, but that's why you are MWB's. It just leaves more Fuze's, Quickfires, Mirages, et cetera for those of us who actually want powerful devices that offer significantly improved features and compatibility, and E-mail attachment accessibility. |
|
